


But I'm Genderflux! (Periods are Ridiculous)

by shnuffeluv



Series: Nonbinary "Heroes" of Undertale [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Chara Is Not Evil, Coming of Age, DEAL WITH IT, Gen, Menstruation, Mild Blood, Non-Binary Chara, Nonbinary Character, Parent Toriel (Undertale), Puberty, Slice of Life, The Talk, but yes there is talk of the female body, chara is good, high T rating, literally though there's periods what do you expect, this isn't quite mature rated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 23:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7409251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/shnuffeluv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chara gets aer first period.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But I'm Genderflux! (Periods are Ridiculous)

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I rated this T, even though it uses the words breasts, vagina, and uterus. It is all in an objective sense and there is no sex in this work, no violence, a bit of blood, but nothing not typical of someone's first period. Yes, this is "The Talk". It happens. Not a whole lot of mentions of sex, nothing that doesn't come with the territory of explaining a period, so I thought this should be rated T. Fight me in the comments if you think that objectively explaining reproduction is above a T-rating, because then what I learned in high school is "mature content not suitable for minors" or some crap. And we teach it to minors anyway.  
> It's just a bodily function, no need to be grossed out by it.

Chara sat with Toriel in aer room and swing aer legs. “Mom, what’s up?” ae asked. “Usually anything you say to me can be said to Frisk and Azzie.”

Toriel sighed. “Yes, I know, my child. But, you see, you just turned 13, and…”

“...And?” Chara asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You were born female and your siblings were born male, which means you are going to go through a different puberty than them.”

Chara’s eyes widened. “‘Puberty’?! That’s a thing I have to go through?!”

Toriel winced and nodded. “I’m afraid so, my child.”

Chara started screaming and covered aer ears. ae didn’t stop until ae nearly passed out from a lack of breathing and were trembling in a combination of fear and fury. “I’m not a girl,” Chara said firmly. “I’m genderflux.”

Toriel nodded. “I know, my child. But your body will do the things I need to describe to you whether you want them to or not.”

“I’ve seen the end result, I don’t like it,” Chara said firmly.

Toriel sighed. “I know, my child. And I have a solution--”

“You can stop this from happening?!” Chara asked eagerly.

“Well, no…”

Chara’s face fell. “The stuff they talked about in school...in health class, that really happens?”

Toriel nodded. “I would have discussed this with you earlier, but you didn’t have any complaints until…”

Chara interrupted her when ae clutched aer abdomen desperately. “Ah! It’s happening again! There’s the pain!”

“Until that,” Toriel finished. “And it’s been going on for a week, right?”

Chara bit aer lip and nodded. “Why don’t you take me to the doctor for it?”

Toriel sighed. “Because they’ll explain to you what I’m about to explain to you. What’s happening to you is something very simple. You are about to have what is commonly called a ‘period’.”

“Period?” Chara asked. “Period of what?”

“Period of mestruation, though it’s just commonly called a period,” Toriel explained. “Chara, you know how you have been wearing those training bras I purchased for you?”

“The shortish undershirt things?” Chara asked, nodding. “Yeah, they help take the edge off when I’m rammed into something right in the chest, like an extra layer of protection.”

“Well, you know how those are to get you used to the fact that soon you will have to wear real bras, as your breasts grow…”

Chara groaned and Toriel held up a hand. “Your body also has a reproductive system. You know what that is?”

“Uh-huh.” Chara thought about it. “It’s like when a bird lays eggs, and then a male bird does this thing with ‘em that makes them chicks rather than food.”

“Yes.” It was clear Toriel didn’t like this much more than Chara did. “Your body does the same thing. It makes eggs-tiny ones, a single cell at a time-and once a month, releases them in case there are male...reproductive cells where the egg will go. If those two cells join, they split and grow together and eventually will make a baby.”

“How?” Chara asked.

“You know what the female reproduction system is, Chara, you talked  _ all _ about it after health class to the point where Frisk and Asriel ignored you for a week. The cells line against the uterus, which gains lining with blood and nutrients for the cells. It does this every month.”

“What happens when there aren’t male cells?” Chara asked. “And...this is the thing where a guy and a girl...do it, right? That’s how the male and female cells...meet?” Chara cringed at the thought. “It’s kinda gross.”

Toriel sighed. “Yes, that’s how, and yes, it does sound gross. When there aren’t any male cells that meet with the female cell, the cell and the lining have to go somewhere, they can’t just pile up in the uterus. So they exit through the vagina.”

Chara blinked. “So...what you're saying is, once a month I’m going to shed blood and...tissue out of my reproductive system into my underwear?”

Toriel nodded. “Yes and no. You see, there are these things people have invented, which will catch and sometimes absorb the blood and tissue so it doesn’t go everywhere...and you will have to wear those. Just once a month for about a week, much like you have to wear training bras.”

Chara thought about it, and poked at their abdomen. “So these cramps are a warning that I’m gonna bleed? That’s kinda useful, but why do they have to  _ hurt so bad? _ ”

“Well, when a baby is born, there’s this thing called labor…”

“Stop stop stop!” Chara yelled. “I don’t want this,  _ any _ of this! It’s bad enough that I have to wear the training bras, now that my body thinks I’m a girl it will make me  _ bleed _ too?! That’s sick! This is sick! Why can’t I just be a boy and not have to deal with this?!”

Toriel grabbed Chara by the shoulders. “My child, your brother and Frisk have to deal with puberty too, though in different ways. You can’t escape this by changing your sex.”

Chara’s lip wobbled. “But...but I don’t wanna have to do this!” ae yelled.

“I know, my child, I know,” Toriel murmured, hugging them.

Chara gasped and Toriel pulled away. “What’s wrong, my child?”

“I...I feel something wet in my underwear...but I didn’t do anything except shift forward a little…”

Toriel gently helped them to their feet and Chara groaned when ae saw a red stain on their sheets. “Mom, I swear I didn’t…!”

“I know. Grab a fresh pair of underwear and I’ll show you what I have in the bathroom for just this occasion, and I’ll help you, if need be.”

Chara looked guiltily at their bed. “Isn’t blood hard to get rid of?”

Toriel shook her head. “I just let it soak in cold water for about an hour before I wash it with stain cleaner and it’s good as new.”

Chara nodded and opened the door to see Frisk and Asriel on the other side. “Are you okay? We heard shouting,” Asriel said.

“Oh, I uh...just...I started bleeding,” Chara said simply. “Mom’s gonna help me stop it in the bathroom.”

The two let Chara go without further questions and Toriel locked the bathroom door when they were both inside. Toriel knelt down in front of Chara. “Take off your pants and underwear, my child, they both need to be washed clean of blood.”

Chara grimaced and pulled down aer pants and blushed when ae saw the amount of blood that ae had unwittingly shed that day. Toriel opened the bathroom cabinets below the sink and pulled out a box of pads and one of tampons. “These are…”

“I know what they are, Mom, Trish explained to me what they were when we were looking over a book about puberty. I missed the bit about the actual period, is all.”

“Do you know which one you would prefer to try?” Toriel asked.

Chara picked out the box of tampons. “How do I use these? Do I have to stick it inside the…” ae blushed. “Maybe another time, when I can practice without bleeding everywhere if I get it wrong?”

Toriel nodded. “Okay, then the pads you just attach to your underwear and throw away before you put them in your hamper.”

Chara nodded and unfolded aer clean underwear, placed the pad firmly on the bottom, and pulled up the article of clothing. Ae frowned. “It feels really bulky. Won’t everyone see?”

“No one in my experience has noticed,” Toriel said softly. “Just change these every few hours so you don’t get sick from it and it doesn’t smell, and use the thicker ones at night. Okay?”

Chara nodded. Ae doubled over as another cramp hit. “Mom, I think I need some painkillers for the cramps.”

Toriel smiled. “I’ll put your dirty clothes in the laundry room and come back with some jeans and ibuprofen. Sound acceptable?”

“Uh-huh. Just hurry.”

“I will,” Toriel promised as she left the bathroom. She returned quickly and Chara gratefully took the jeans. “Now, I can’t get rid of the periods, my child, but if we go to the doctor, they have pills that if you take every day, will lighten your period so it hopefully won’t hurt as bad or be as painful.”

Ae nodded. “Can we talk about the breast thing as well?”

“When they are done growing, we can get you a binder. Until then, we can get you sports bras as you grow to take some of the edge off, and the right clothes will make your chest look flat. Sound good?” Toriel offered.

Chara nodded. “One more thing. Can I tell the boys?”

“Absolutely not,” Toriel said firmly. “This is something private that they don’t need to know about in detail, like how you take showers separately to not flash people. Understood?”

“Uh-huh.” Chara laughed. “Are you going to give the boys a similar talk, or is Dad?”

Toriel groaned. “I hope your father takes care of it. I need to go talk to him now about this very subject, in fact. Be good, and let me know if you stain anything. I’ll help you clean it up.”

“Understood,” Chara said. Ae hugged Toriel. “Thanks for the help.”

Toriel hugged them back. “I’ll always be here for you, my child.”


End file.
